Guilty plea in West Seattle racial attack on teen

One of two men charged in a West Seattle attack alleged to have been racially motivated has pleaded guilty to robbery and hate crime charges.

Pleading guilty as charged last month, Ahmed Mohamed, 23, told the court he and co-defendant Jonathan N. Baquiring attacked a West Seattle teen on May 25 because the youth was white.

“I along with Jonathan Baquiring robbed (the 16-year-old) by stealing items from his pockets while threatening to cap him, whipping him with his belt and burning him with cigarettes,” Mohamed told the court. “We also displayed a knife … held it to his neck and threatened to cut his throat.

“We targeted (him) because he was a different race than we are.”

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors noted they plan to seek a six-year prison, the maximum sentence available inside the standard sentencing range.

The 16-year-old victim told police he was walking to his West Seattle home from a friend’s house about 2 a.m. the morning of the attack when he was approached by two men.

His assailants asked him for a light. According to charging documents, his assailants then attacked him.

Following the attack, the boy’s face, ears, head and back were swollen and covered in welts and that his teeth were chipped in several places, according to charging documents.

The youth told police the suspects forced him up the stairs to a dead end and held him against his will for several hours.

“During this time they beat him with their hands and feet, whipped him with his own belt, burned him with a lit cigarette, poured energy beer on him and urinated on him,” a Seattle police detective said in court documents.

The teen never saw a gun, but told police his attackers threatened to “‘cap’ him” if he looked up, according to court documents.

Like Mohamed, Baquiring remains jailed.

Having pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and malicious harassment, Mohamed is set to be sentenced later in January.